Vacuum cleaner

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a vacuum cleaner, which can prevent dust or foreign objects from flowing backwards. The vacuum cleaner includes a motor to generate a suction force; a suction assembly to suck air including dust or foreign objects and including a first air passage guiding the sucked air; and a dust collection filter to filter the dust or foreign objects from the sucked air, and including a dust collecting container having an opening to receive air from the first air passage of the suction assembly, a guide forming a second air passage provided to guide a flow of the air received through the opening, a shutter provided in the guide to operate, according to the suction force, in an opened mode to open the second air passage or a closed mode to close the second air passage, and a filter configured to filter the foreign objects from the sucked air.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a bypass continuation of International Application No. PCT/KR2020/009590, filed Jul. 21, 2020, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0090064, filed Jul. 25, 2019, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner, which can prevent sucked dust or foreign objects from being flown backward.

2. Description of Related Art

A stick type vacuum cleaner is equipped with a cleaner body that generates suction force, a suction assembly that suctions dust or foreign subjects from a surface to be cleaned such as a carpet, and a stick having a connection pipe that has a passage to transmit the dust or foreign subjects sucked through suction assembly. The stick may have an upper end to which the cleaner body is connected and a lower end to that the suction assembly is connected. The cleaner body is provided with a dust collecting container that accommodates the dust or foreign subjects sucked through the stick. The suction assembly includes a rotating drum brush, and a motor that rotates the drum brush. Meanwhile, the dust or foreign subjects sucked through the stick are filtered by a filter after being introduced into the dust collecting container, and remains in the dust collecting container. When the vacuum cleaner stops working and thus the suction force disappears, the dust or foreign subjects introduced or being introduced as described above may flow back through the stick again due to tilting of the vacuum cleaner, external impact and the like.

In a conventional vacuum cleaner, a dust backflow prevention valve is disposed at an end of the stick. Such a dust backflow prevention valve may be restricted from operating due to introduced large dust or may deteriorate its function due to fine dust stuck therein. In addition, there is a problem in that maintenance is not easy because the valve with such a deteriorated function is not exposed well due to its position.

SUMMARY

An object of the disclosure is to provide a vacuum cleaner capable of not only easily maintaining, but also efficiently preventing sucked dust or foreign objects from being flown backward.

In an embodiment, a vacuum cleaner is provided. The vacuum cleaner includes a motor provided to generate a suction force; a suction assembly configured to suck air including dust or foreign objects and including a first air passage through which the sucked air moves; and a dust collection filter provided to filter the dust or foreign objects from the sucked air, and the dust collection filter includes: a dust collecting container having an opening configured to receive the air the first air passage of the suction assembly , a guide forming a second air passage configured to guide a flow of the air received through the opening of the dust collecting container, a shutter provided in the guide and configured, according to the suction force, to operate in an opened mode to open the second air passage and operate in a closed mode to close the second air passage, and a filter provided in the dust collecting container to penetrate the air introduced through the second air passage of the guide to filter the foreign objects therefrom.

The filter may have a cylindrical shape, and the guide may be extended in a circumferential direction of the filter.

The guide may have a length within a quarter of the circumference of the filter.

The guide may be extended in a rotation direction of the air inside the dust collecting container.

The filter may include a flange configured to fasten the dust collecting container, and the guide may be provided adjacent to the flange.

The guide may include a bottom portion; a first blocking wall extending up from a corner of the bottom portion facing a bottom of the dust collecting container; and a second blocking wall extend from a corner of the bottom portion facing the opening of the dust collecting container.

The first blocking wall may include a protruding wall extended past the bottom portion.

The shutter may be provided on an end of the bottom portion of the guide.

The shutter may be obliquely extended at an angle from 10 to 70 degrees toward the dust collecting container from an outer circumference surface of the filter.

The shutter may be joined to the guide.

The shutter may be formed of an elastic deformable and restorable plate made of a natural rubber, a synthetic rubber, a plastic or a metal.

As described above, the vacuum cleaner of the disclosure provides the guide for guiding the air introduced into the detachable dust collecting container in the air rotation direction and provides the shutter in the guide, thereby reliably preventing the sucked dust from flowing back even if the vacuum cleaner is tilted or turned upside down when there is no suction force.

In addition, the shutter provided in the guide of the outer circumferential surface of the filter in the dust collecting container may be completely exposed when the dust collecting container is separated, so it is easy to maintain.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.

Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computer readable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code” includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transport transitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computer readable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored and media where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as a rewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cleaner body of the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the cleaner body shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a guide and a shutter provided in a filter assembly of the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a cross-sectional taken along line B-B of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the guide and the shutter separated from the filter assembly.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the guide and the shutter in a direction opposite to those shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a view showing an operation of the shutter in a state in which the vacuum cleaner stops working.

FIG. 10 is a view showing an operation of the shutter in a state in which the vacuum cleaner is operating.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 through 10, discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged system or device.

Hereinafter, a vacuum cleaner 1 according to the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments described below describe the vacuum cleaner as being applied to a stick type vacuum cleaner to aid understanding of the disclosure, which is illustrative. Unlike the embodiments described herein, it should be understood that the vacuum cleaner may be implemented in various modifications such as a handy type vacuum cleaner, a handy-stick type vacuum cleaner, a canister type vacuum cleaner and an upright type vacuum cleaner. However, in explaining the disclosure below, when it is decided that a detailed description for the known functions or components related to the disclosure may obscure the gist of the disclosure, the detailed description and concrete illustration will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The vacuum cleaner 1 according to the embodiment of the disclosure includes a cleaner body 10 that generates suction force and a suction assembly 20 that sucks dust or foreign objects on a surface to be cleaned by the suction force of the cleaner body 10.

The cleaner body 10 includes a body frame 11, a suction motor 12 that generates the suction force, a dust collection filter unit 13 that filters the dust or foreign objects sucked by the suction force, and a battery 14.

The body frame 11 may include a handle 111 that can be gripped by a user, a manipulating part 112 that manipulates the vacuum cleaner 1, a battery support 113 that supports the battery 14, and a stick connection pipe 114.

The manipulating part 112 may include buttons that can turn the vacuum cleaner 1 on and off, controlling strength and weakness in the suction force of the vacuum cleaner 1, etc.

The battery support 113 detachably supports the battery 14, and may include connector terminals that come in contact with power terminals of the battery 14.

The stick connection pipe 114 may be connected with a stick 24 of the suction assembly 20. The stick connection pipe 114 may have a hollow hole that communicates with a first air passage of the stick 24 through which the sucked air is introduced. The stick connection pipe 114 may be connected with the dust collection filter unit 13 that is provided adjacent thereto to transfer the sucked air.

The suction motor 12 generates the suction force for sucking the dust or foreign objects from the surface to be cleaned. The suction motor 12 may be mounted on the body frame 11.

The dust collection filter unit 13 filters the dust or foreign objects from the air introduced through the stick connection pipe 114. Detailed explanation on the dust collection filter unit 13 will be described later.

The battery 14 may supply power for operating the vacuum cleaner 1. The battery 14 may be detachably coupled to the battery support 113 of the body frame 11. The battery 14 may be implemented as a rechargeable secondary battery.

The suction assembly 20 may include a brush unit 22 that sucks the dust or foreign objects on the surface to be cleaned, and a stick 24.

The brush unit 22 may include a drum brush. The drum brush have a cylindrical roller shape, and is covered with a cleaning member, such as a cotton flannel, on an outer circumference surface thereof. The drum brush shake off the dust deeply attached between multiple hairs of carpet to scatter the dust onto the carpet. The brush unit 22 may include a driving motor that generates power to rotate the drum brush. The driving motor is supplied with the power through the stick 24 from the battery 14 of the cleaner body 10.

The stick 24 at one side thereof may be connected to the brush unit 22, and at the other side may be connected to the stick connection pipe 114 of the body frame 11. The stick 24 may form the first air passage through which the dust or foreign objects sucked from the brush unit 22 passes. The dust or foreign sucked in the brush unit 22 may be introduced into the dust collection filter unit 13 through the stick connection pipe 114 via the first air passage of the stick 24.

The stick 24 may be a plurality of pipes having hollow holes to form the first air passage. The plurality of pipes, which form the stick 24, may be joined or combined to allow the stick to increase or decrease in length.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cleaner body 10 according to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the cleaner body 10 shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 2.

The cleaner body 10 may include the suction motor 12, and the dust collection filter unit 13 that filters the dust or foreign objects sucked by the suction force of the suction motor 12.

The dust collection filter unit 13 may be detachably connected to the suction motor 12 to filter the dust or foreign objects from the air that is sucked from the surface to be cleaned by the suction force.

The dust collection filter unit 13 may include a filter assembly 132, a dust collecting container 134 that accommodates the filter assembly 132 while spaced apart with the filter assembly 132, a guide 136 provided in the dust collecting container 134 to form a second air passage for the air, and a shutter 138 provided in the guide 136 to selectively open or close the second air passage.

The filter assembly 132 may include a first cyclone 1321, a filter member 1322, a second cyclone 1323 and an exhaust filter 1324, which are combined sequentially with one another.

The first cyclone 1321 is located at the deepest position of the dust collecting container 134. The first cyclone 1321 may generate a centrifugal force to rotate the air in the dust collecting container 134, thereby first separating the dust or foreign objects.

The filter member 1322 may be implemented as a cylindrical metal net that filters the foreign objects. The filter member 1322 at a first side may be combined with the first cyclone 1321 and at a second side accommodate the second cyclone 1323.

The second cyclone 1323 may include a plurality of, for example, nine small cyclone units 1326, and a cyclone supporting member 1327 that accommodates and supports the small cyclone units 1326.

The small cyclone units 1226 may provide secondary separation of fine dust by the centrifugal force from filtered air introduced from the first cyclone 1321 and the filter member 1322.

The cyclone supporting member 1327 may include a cyclone receiving part 1328 in the form of cylinder in which a plurality of openings are formed in the circumferential direction, and a flange 1329 that is radially extended from the cyclone receiving part 1328.

The exhaust filter 1324 may be provided in an exhaust part 122 of the suction motor 12 to further filter the dust or foreign subjects from the air, which is discharged to the outside.

The dust collecting container 134 may be detachably coupled to the flange 1329 of the cyclone supporting member 1327 while accommodating the filter assembly 132 and spaced apart with the filter assembly 132.

The dust collecting container 134 may be provided in parallel with and adjacent to the stick connection pipe 114. The dust collecting container 134 may include a dust inlet 1342 that communicates with the first air passage of the stick 24 through an intermediate air passage of the stick connection pipe 114 to introduce the dust or foreign subjects. The stick connection pipe 114 is provided with an air outlet (see air outlet 1142 in FIG, 5) that communicates with the dust inlet 1342 of the dust collecting container 134 at an end of the intermediate air passage of the stick connection pipe 114.

The air sucked from the surface to be cleansed may pass through the brush unit 22, the stick 24, the stick connection pipe 114, the dust collecting container 134 and the filter assembly 132 and discharged.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the guide 136 and the shutter 138 provided in the filter assembly 132, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a cross-sectional taken along line B-B of FIG. 2.

The guide 136 may be mounted in the dust collecting container 134 to extend along a circumferential direction of the filter assembly 132. The guide 136 may form the second air passage that communicates with the air outlet 1142 of the stick connection pipe 114 and the dust inlet 1342 of the dust collecting container 134 and guides air delivered from the first air passage along the circumferential direction of the filter assembly 132. The second air passage is formed of a space consisting of a first surface of the guide 136 and a second surface in an inner side of the dust collecting container 134, the second surface can be spaced apart from the first surface by a predetermined distance to face the first surface. The air introduced into the dust collecting container 134 rotates in a single direction according to the centrifugal force by the first and the second cyclones 1321 and 1323. To naturally guide the air into the dust collecting container 134, the guide 136 may be extended along a rotation direction of the air in the dust collecting container 134.

The guide 136 may be configured with an extension length from an inlet side to an outlet side of the second air passage is within a quarter of a circumference length 2π of the filter assembly 132. If the length of the guide 136 exceeds the quarter of the circumference length of the filter assembly 132, a space at the outlet side of the second air passage of the guide 136 is reduced, and thus it is difficult to form an airflow for inducing air rotation in the dust collecting container 134. Also, if the length of the guide 136 is too short, the guide 136 may not be as effective to block the dust or foreign objects in the dust collecting container 134.

The shutter 138 is provided in an outlet of the second air passage, i.e., an end of the guide 136, thereby allowing the second air passage of the guide 136 to be opened or closed. The shutter 138 may be operated in an opened mode in which it opens the second air passage when the suction force generates according to the operation of the vacuum cleaner 1 and operated in a closed mode in which it returns to close the second air passage when there is no suction force.

The shutter 138 may be formed of an elastic plate made of a natural rubber, a synthetic rubber, a plastic or a metal. The elastic plate can be deformable and restorable.

The shutter 138 may be obliquely extended in a predetermined angle α toward an inner circumference surface of the dust collecting container 134 adjacent to an inner wall of the guide 136 at an outer circumference surface of the filter assembly 132. In order to facilitate deformation and restoration without causing pressure loss for not only large suction force but also for small suction force, the shutter 138 may be provided in an angle α of 10 to 70 degrees.

In a modified embodiment, the guide 136 may be mounted in the dust collecting container 134 instead of the filter assembly 132. In this case, the shutter 138 may be obliquely extended toward the outer circumference surface of the filter assembly 132.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the guide 136 and the shutter 138 separated from the filter assembly 132, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the guide 136 and the shutter 138 in a back side of those shown in FIG. 7.

The guide 136 may include a bottom portion 1361, a first blocking wall 1362 extended from a first side (lower side) of the bottom portion 1361, and a second blocking wall 1363 extended from a second side (left side) of the bottom portion 1361 toward an inlet side of the guide 136. A third side (right side) of the bottom portion 1361 of the guide 136 may be provided in an opened state. At this time, at a fourth side (upper side) of the bottom portion 1361, the flange 1329 of the cyclone supporting member 1327 may carry out a role of the blocking wall.

The first blocking wall 1362 may first block the dust or foreign subjects of the dust collecting container 134 from flowing back.

In a modified embodiment, the guide 136 may include a third blocking wall extend from the fourth side (upper side) of the bottom portion 1361.

The guide 136 may include a fastening hole 1367 in the bottom portion 1361. The guide 136 may be supported by fastening a fixing pin 1368, which is provided on an outer circumference surface of a cyclone accommodating part 1328, in the fastening hole 1367.

The guide 136 may include a jointing part 1364 formed integrally with the second blocking wall 1363. The guide 136 may be supported on the cyclone supporting member 1327 by fasting a first bolt hole 1365 of the jointing part 1364 and a second bolt hole 1369 provided on the flange 1329 of the cyclone supporting member 1327, by means of a bolt.

The first blocking wall 1362 may include a protruding wall 1366 that is protruded and extended beyond the third side (right side) of the bottom portion 1361. The protruding wall 1366 allows the shutter 138 obliquely extended at the predetermined angle to operate while stably closing the second air passage of the guide 136.

The shutter 138 is provided on the end of the guide 138 to secondly block the dust or foreign subjects in the dust collecting container 134 from flowing back.

The shutter 138 may include a base 1382 that is overlapped with and supported on the bottom portion 1361 of the guide 136, and an inclined part 1384 hingedly connected from one side of the base 1382 to be inclined upward, for example, in an angle of 10 to 70 degrees.

As shown in FIG. 8, the base 1382 may include three fastening holes 1386. The bottom portion 1361 of the guide 136 at a back surface thereof may include three fastening protrusions 1370. The base 1382 may be coupled to the bottom portion 1361 of the guide 136 by inserting the fastening protrusions 1370 into the fastening holes 1386.

Of course, the shutter 138 and the guide 136 may be coupled by fusion or adhesion in addition to the above-described fastening method. In addition, the shutter 138 and the guide 136 may be integrally formed.

The inclined part 1384 may be configured to contact a first side (left side) thereof with the third side (right side) of the bottom portion 1361, contact a second side (lower side) thereof with the protruding wall 1366 of the first blocking wall 1362, contact a third side (right side) thereof with the inner wall of the dust collecting container 134 when the second air passage is blocked, and contact a fourth side (upper side) thereof with the flange 1329 of the cyclone supporting member 1327, thereby blocking the second air passage of the guide 136.

FIG. 9 is a view showing an operation of the shutter 138 in a state in which the vacuum cleaner 1 stops working, and FIG. 10 is a view showing an operation of the shutter 138 in a state in which the vacuum cleaner 1 is working.

As shown in FIG. 9, the shutter 138 blocks the outlet of the second air passage of the guide 136 provided between the filter assembly 132 and the dust collecting container 134 since there is no suction force when the vacuum cleaner 1 stops working.

As shown in FIG. 10, the shutter 138 is deformed by the suction force during the operation of the vacuum cleaner 1 to open the outlet of the second air passage of the guide 136 provided between the filter assembly 132 and the dust collecting container 134. Thereafter, when the vacuum cleaner 1 stops working again and thus the suction force is lost, the shutter 138 returns as shown in FIG. 9 to block the outlet of the second air passage, thereby preventing the dust or foreign subjects accumulated in the dust collecting container 134 from flowing back.

As described above, the vacuum cleaner 1 of the disclosure may reliably block the dust or foreign subjects in the dust collecting container 134 from flowing back, in the state in which it stops working.

In particular, the guide 136 and the shutter 138 are configured to provide the opening and closing positions of the shutter in the left and right directions, not in the up and down directions of the dust collecting container 134 and provide them at positions higher than the bottom of the dust collecting container 134 in which the dust or foreign subjects is accumulated, so that they may be less affected by the dust or foreign subjects accumulated on the bottom of the dust collecting container 134.

Also, the guide 136 or the shutter 138 is certainly exposed to the user by separating the dust collecting container 134, thereby easily maintaining.

Although the preferred embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated and described above, the disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and can be variously modified by those skilled in the art to which the disclosure pertains without departing from the gist of the disclosure claimed in the claims, and these modifications should not be understood individually from the technical ideas or prospects of the disclosure.

Although the present disclosure has been described with various embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a motor provided to generate a suction force; a suction assembly configured to suck air including dust or foreign objects and including a first air passage through which the sucked air moves; and a dust collection filter configured to filter the dust or foreign objects from the sucked air, wherein the dust collection filter comprises: a dust collecting container having an opening configured to receive the air from the first air passage of the suction assembly, a guide forming a second air passage configured to guide a flow of the air received through the opening of the dust collecting container, a shutter provided in the guide and configured, according to the suction force, to: operate in an opened mode to open the second air passage, and operate in a closed mode to close the second air passage, and a filter provided in the dust collecting container and configured to filter the foreign objects from the air received through the second air passage of the guide.
 2. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein: the filter has a cylindrical shape, and the guide is extended in a circumferential direction of the filter.
 3. The vacuum cleaner of claim 2, wherein the guide has a length within a quarter of a circumference of the filter.
 4. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the guide is extended in a rotation direction of the air inside the dust collecting container.
 5. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein: the filter comprises a flange configured to fasten the dust collecting container, and the guide is provided adjacent to the flange.
 6. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the guide comprises: a bottom portion; a first blocking wall extending up from a corner of the bottom portion facing a bottom of the dust collecting container; and a second blocking wall extending up from a corner of the bottom portion facing the opening of the dust collecting container.
 7. The vacuum cleaner of claim 6, wherein the first blocking wall comprises a protruding wall extended past the bottom portion.
 8. The vacuum cleaner of claim 6, wherein the shutter is provided on an end of the bottom portion of the guide.
 9. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the shutter is obliquely extended at an angle from 10 to 70 degrees toward the dust collecting container from an outer circumference surface of the filter.
 10. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the shutter is joined to the guide.
 11. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the shutter is formed of an elastic plate.
 12. The vacuum cleaner of claim 11, wherein the elastic plate is made of a natural rubber, a synthetic rubber, a plastic or a metal. 